Should the US embassy in Israel move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?

by KRISTINE FRAZAO, Sinclair Broadcast Group

The Israeli flag. (MGN)

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) - Moving Israel's U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv was a campaign promise made by President Donald Trump. On Capitol Hill Wednesday, lawmakers heard testimony from those trying to make that happen.

The embassy is the only U.S. embassy not in a country's declared capital city. Those against moving the embassy into Jerusalem say it could lead to violence and would likely be a major barrier to moving forward on the peace progress between Israel and Palestine, and would anger U.S. allies like Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Supporters, including those who testified at Wednesday's hearing, say it simply shows America stands by Israel.

"A lot of people say that there’s a problem moving the embassy to Jerusalem because it’s going to cause riots in the street, Arab world's not going to like it," said Eugene Kontorovich of the Kohelet Policy Forum. "What that essentially does is hold our national foreign policy hostage to threats."

President Trump has until Dec. 1 to decide whether to exercise a waiver that would delay relocating the embassy, something every U.S. president has done since 1995.